Strange Bedfellows Behind Suit Against Third Term; Say Referendum is Required

The law extending term limits without a public referendum has united unlikely allies in a common cause.

NORMAN SIEGEL: 'Fundamentally unfair process.'

Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel has joined forces with former Giuliani administration Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, with whom he did legal battle while the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, to stop the extension in Federal court. In announcing the lawsuit Nov. 10 at City Hall, Conservative Party State Chairman Michael Long rallied with City Councilman Charles Barron, a former Black Panther.

Chilling Effect on Voter Action?

The plaintiffs, who include activists and elected officials both current and retired, alleged in their lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, that amending the law, which had been established and upheld by two referendums in the 1990s, without another referendum had a chilling effect on voter action and was therefore a violation of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the First Amendment.

Mr. Siegel insisted that there was precedent supporting their case, alleging that the City Council vote on extending term limits was a conflict of interest because the majority of Council Members were in their second and last terms. The Conflicts of Interest Board previously gave the legislative procedure a green light.

RANDY MASTRO: Illegal minus a referendum.

"What the Federal courts have said more than once is that the right to vote is crucial and it's fundamental, and within that area of the law when there are elected officials who are using their power to entrench themselves and keep themselves in power, it raises what's called a substantive due-process issue," Mr. Siegel said, invoking 11th-Circuit Court opinions and concurring opinions by U.S. Supreme Court Justices. "If you can show that their actions are, quote, 'patently and fundamentally unfair,' then you have a due-process violation, and that's exactly what's happened here."

'Disenfranchised Voters'

The litigation rests on the idea that since voters expressed a desire for a two-term limit in two referendums, extending the law without a public vote sends the message to citizens that their votes do not count, something the Odd Couple legal team contended is unconstitutional.

"And now what's happened in one swift act that was rushed through the legislature in record time, that right has been eviscerated," Mr. Mastro said. "The voters have been disenfranchised from the process in which they thought their vote mattered."

The lawsuit stated, "The Mayor's and City Council's nullification of millions of votes and other First Amendment activity, moreover, was preceded by none of the robust dialogue that resulted in the two referenda votes. To the contrary, while the referenda were presented to and acted upon by the city's voters after months of intense debate, the Mayor and City Council saw fit to undo the referenda with an ill-advised and extraordinarily abbreviated process."

Mr. Siegel also noted that since several state courts were divided over whether laws established by referendum could only be undone or amended by similar popular votes, the new law was subject to a legal challenge.

City: Courts Will Uphold Us

Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo said in a statement reacting to the litigation, "We believe the claims lack merit, and are confident the court will determine that the amendment to the Term Limits Law was proper and lawful."

The plaintiffs asked the court for an expedited schedule so that the case can be resolved by next spring, in time for a referendum if the ruling goes in their favor. The attorneys chose the Eastern District because most of the plaintiffs resided in that jurisdiction and that court has ruled on several Voting Rights Act cases.

Among the plaintiffs are City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, former Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari, New York Public Interest Research Group attorney Gene Russianoff, and Council Members Bill de Blasio and Letitia James. Also on board are several people seeking to run for City Council next year against would-be term-limited incumbents, such as Pete Gleason, who is trying to unseat Councilman Alan Gerson, and Ari Hoffnung, who will attempt to unseat G. Oliver Koppell. Mayor Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the city Board of Elections are named as defendants.

"The fact that Randy and I are working together underscores the point that this is about principle, not about personality," Mr. Siegel said, while also joking about his past clashes with the former Deputy Mayor. "You can and at times you must — you must — fight City Hall, and history has shown that sometimes we can win, and sometimes the fight — the fight — is as important as winning."